Animal husbandry, such as poultry farming, is very popular among the people to run their livelihood. But the actual knowledge of animal husbandry and farming is very less among the people of rural as well as in urban areas.
Hence most people do not know the different terms and definitions which are used for the same category of animals.
The chickens are one of the most common birds, which are reared by many peoples in rural areas at their homes.
Most people think that the correct way to identify a hen and a rooster is that a hen lays eggs, whereas a rooster crows in the morning. But besides these two, there are various parameters to make a differentiation between a hen and a rooster.
Key Takeaways
- Hens are female chickens that lay eggs and exhibit brooding behavior, while roosters are male chickens with a colorful plumage and distinct crowing sounds.
- Roosters protect the flock and establish a social hierarchy, while hens focus on nesting, laying eggs, and raising chicks.
- Hens are smaller and less aggressive than roosters, making them more suitable for backyard flocks and egg production.
Hen vs Rooster
A hen is an adult female chicken that is raised for its meat and eggs. Hens are one of the most common domesticated animals in the world and are used for food production. A rooster is a male chicken or a male domestic fowl known for its different characteristics like its ability to crow.
Hens are the adult female chicken that belongs to the subspecies group of G. g. gallus is also of two different breeds based on laying eggs.
Hens are very cool, but they also get angry and aggressive if someone is going to catch their baby chicks. Hens are the most common source of eggs in households.
Roosters are adult male chickens, and these also belong to the same species and family as that of a hen. Roosters have more strength, and they are bossy, due to which they are used in the fight.
The roosters raise their hackle feathers to show aggression to any other rooster who comes into their area.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Hen | Rooster |
|---|---|---|
| Gender | A female chicken is known as a hen. | A male chicken is known as a rooster. |
| Egg Laying | A hen can lay fertile and non-fertile eggs. | A rooster does not lay eggs. |
| Comb size | Hen has a small size of comb in her head. | Rooster has a large and more beautiful comb. |
| Behavior | Hens are calm and timid. | Roosters are bossy and aggressive. |
| Feather’s Shape | Short and rounded shape feathers. | Long and pointed shape feathers |
What is Hen?
A hen is an adult female chicken that can lay eggs. A hen can lay eggs but only after it becomes at least six months old.
A hen can lay both fertile as well as non-fertile eggs. Some of the breeds of hens are called “Layer Hen,” which lays non-fertile eggs, which means baby chicks cannot take birth from these eggs even after hatching.
Hackle feathers of a hen are also pointed but small.
Moreover, hens hatch the eggs given in their nest to give birth to new chicks, which become converted to adults after some months and continue their generations.
The hen continuously warms their eggs for almost 21 days so that new chicks can form and come from the eggs. A hen whose age is less than a year and still immature to lay eggs are known as pullets.
Hens do not have spurs on their legs as they are very calm in most of their life cycle.
What is Rooster?
Roosters are coming under the family of Phasianidae which are domesticated birds. These roosters are the one who crows in the morning, and by that sound, people wake up in rural areas or small villages.
The hackle feathers of a rooster are large, bright, and colorful. Whenever a rooster is trying to fight with another rooster, the hackle feathers become erect and pointed.
Cockfighting is a fight between two roosters to entertain people. The one rooster which loses becomes the property of that owner whose rooster wins.
Roosters have spurs that are present just above their nails which also describes the age of any rooster. The larger the size of spurs means larger the age of the rooster, and they use these spurs during the time of cockfighting.
Main Differences Between Hen and Rooster
- A hen lays eggs when it becomes six months old, whereas a rooster never lays eggs in its entire life.
- A hen has a smaller comb in its head, whereas a rooster has a larger size comb in its head.
- The hackle feathers of a hen are small, but the hackle feathers of a rooster are large, brighter, and more colorful.
- The wattles under the beak of a hen are small, and the wattles of a rooster are larger, and it hangs longer also.
- A hen has a short feather associated with her tail, whereas roosters have long and colorful feathers in their tails.
- Hens have no spurs on their legs, whereas roosters have large spurs on their legs, which grow longer by their age.
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579119498349
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00071660902951321
- https://academic.oup.com/endo/article-abstract/63/5/570/2775277
Last Updated : 14 July, 2023
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Piyush Yadav has spent the past 25 years working as a physicist in the local community. He is a physicist passionate about making science more accessible to our readers. He holds a BSc in Natural Sciences and Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Science. You can read more about him on his bio page.
